The Human Heart
by OutlawEX
Summary: Ulquiorra Cifer, through many short stories told by Orihime Inuoe, tries to understand "the human heart."
1. Prologue: Emotion

Alright, so let me just go over the concept of this fiction.

I was thinking the other day that Orihime spent kind of a while in Las Noches. Of course, Ulquiorra I imagine would frequently check up on her, as he was assigned by Aizen to be her care taker.

I would think being the curious type that Ulquiorra seems to be, he probably wound up conversing with the girl somewhat, even if it didn't actually show it in the show. I mean It's hard to cram in everything that happens into a 22 minute episode.

Essentially, this story is going to be several one-shots being told to our curious Arrancar by Orihime, the theme being emotion and heart.

I hope you enjoy~

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_The Human Heart_

_Prologue: Emotion_

_OutlawEX_

Orihime Inoue sat in her own personal prison, staring out the window at the perpetual night that was Las Noches. It was one of the few things that brought her comfort. "Are you lonely too?" She questioned the moon, whom sat alone as well. She could hear the door behind her slide open, followed by several foot steps. She didn't bother to turn around to meet his gaze.

"Who are you talking to?" Inquired Ulquiorra Cifer, who stood motionless.

"Nobody," the red head replied distantly.

The Arrancar shook his head. "I do not understand. Why would one speak to somebody who is not there?"

The woman did not answer, she merely turned around to meet the pale man's blank, empty eyes. For whatever reason, that she absolutely could not even fathom, she felt sorry him. "Sometimes it just eases the heart," she confess.

"I still do not understand," he tilted his head, bewildered. "The heart is merely a non-voluntary organ that pumps blood through out the human body. How can one 'ease' it?"

"It's so much more than that!" Emotion spilled out of her voice.

"Then tell me. Tell me of the human heart."

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I'm really looking forward to writing stuff for this. I hope you all enjoy. Let me know what you think of the idea. Also, let me know if you have any story ideas for this, I'd be happy to write them out for you! Review please!


	2. Without You

The first short in "The Human Heart." This is my personal favorite pairing: IchiRuki. This is essentially Rukia's leaving through Ichigo's eyes, and his coming to terms with the fact that she is gone. This scene was in the show, however, I don't believe it got a whole lot of thoughts from Ichigo ever. So here's a version with more thoughts from our hero.

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_The Human Heart_

_Without You_

_OutlawEX  
_

Ichigo Kurosaki stood with his blade raised above his head. Vast power seeped from his body. His hands tightened around the hilt as he swung down to deliver the final blow to his fallen foe. As he followed through his slash, his enemy still knelt before him, not a wound on his body. The reason behind this became very obvious as he looked down toward his weapon. The blade was broken near the guard. He looked back toward his opponent, who still remained motionless in shock. He turned to analyze the man behind him, though he was positive he couldn't do a thing to help his comrade from such a distance. His eyes widened in disbelief as his gaze moved to the man's hand. Between his middle and index fingers he balanced the boy's blade.

Rukia Kuchiki could only watch with a horrified expression. She knew her brother. There was no _best_ that she could hope for. The instant he became a part of the battle, his intent had become to kill. The captain popped his blade from it's sheath with his thumb. He disappeared from vision, and within just a short moment he reappeared behind the strawberry headed boy. A tear dripped down the woman's face.

Blood hemorrhaged from Ichigo's mouth, crimson gashed from the diagonal slash across his sternum. He fell face first into the hard asphalt pavement. Almost as if it were on cue, rain began to drip from the sky. His world began to fade, until finally all was black.

"Ichigo!" The raven haired woman shrieked, as she jumped the guard railing, and sprinted toward the lifeless body.

Renji Abarai, now back to his senses, ran toward her. "Stop!" He clasped his hand around her throat, and smashed her into a street sign.

"Let go of me!" She shouted, trying to pry his grip from her neck. "Ichigo is..."

"What are you talking about?!" He cut her off, his face filled with rage. "Look hard! He's dead! If you even touched him, it would add another 20 years to whatever sentence you are given. You'd do that just for a dead person?!"

Her eyes filled with despair as she looked back toward the body. "It's my fault he's involved in this! It's my fault he's dead! Why can't I go to him?!" She plead frantically.

"Even if it meant multiplying your sentence, you still couldn't stay away from this boy?" The captain chimed in, now walking toward his sister and lieutenant.

"Brother..."

"I understand, sister... The kid looks a lot like _him_."

You could see in the girl's eyes that what he said had completely broken her. It was as if the fiery emotion she built inside had been extinguished.

By this time, the boy was beginning to come to. _Him? _He thought to himself. _Who is him? _He grasped the excess fabric of the clothing worn by the man who stood adjacent his body. "Dead you say? Looks like him?" He mocked. "Stop talking about me like I'm not here."

"Ichi-" The woman began, her face expressing relief. That expression quickly faded as she realized his being alive was a burden unto itself.

"I see that you don't need that arm," the Soul Reaper spoke, threat evident in his voice.

Rukia broke Renji's grip, and ran as fast as she could toward her brother. She kicked the boy's hand from the bottom of the man's pant, sending it flying back.

"What are you doing, Rukia?" The boy spoke weakly and confused.

The air was silent for a short period. "You're just a human. How dare you grab my brother like that!" She retorted acidly. "Know your place!"

The boy felt a sharp pain.

The woman turned to her brother. "Let's go. Take me back to the Soul Society," her tone was flat. "There is no need to inflect the final blow, he'll die anyway." She turned her back.

"Rukia! What kind of joke is this?!" Ichigo demanded, hurt. "Look at me!" He struggled to get up.

"Do not move!" The raven haired woman commanded harshly. "If you even try to come after me, I'll... I will never forgive you," she turned toward him, tears filled the edge of her bottom eye lids. "You'll die anyway... so just stay there... even if it means only living a single second longer."

The boy dropped his head, defeated. He knew he could not win.

The captain re sheathed his Zanpakuto. "Fine, I will not deal the final blow," he agreed to his sister's wish. "I've shattered his soul chain, he will die in less than thirty minutes. If he is lucky enough to live, he will never be able to fight as a Soul Reaper again. Now, Renji..." He gave an unspoken command to his subordinate.

"Yes," the red haired man thrust his sword into the air in front of him, opening a Senkaimon. The three began their way into the gate.

_I can't speak or move._

The woman took a final look back as the sliding doors closed behind her, unmasking the dark road behind it, as it faded away.

_There are no words for this._ Even if she had not meant for them to be, the woman's words were sharper than the blade of her brother. They made wound across his chest feel like a paper cut compared to the damage that she inflicted upon him. Memories of her came rushing into his head, leaving behind the harsh reality, _She's gone, _he pounded the ground with his fist. As hard as he tried to fight it, he collapsed, unconscious.

The sound of clogs resonated in the night. Out of the shadows stepped Kisuke Urahara holding an umbrella, a strange black cat perched upon his shoulder. "Looks like you're alive," he spoke. "Better hurry and get ya' patched up."

* * *

After spending the night at Urahara's, the boy stopped by his house to get ready for class. He opened his closet to get his uniform, only to be greeted by more painful memories. Sheets and pillows lay scattered across the upper arc of his closet. Rukia's make-shift mattress. He held blanket close to his face. It was only a day ago she had been sleeping under it.

Kon stepped out from underneath the bed. "Where's sister?" He whined, aware that she did not return with Ichigo.

"She's not coming back for a while."

The stuffed lion pouted. "But she will back?"

"I'll get her back somehow," the ex-Soul Reaper promised, though his voice lacked the confidence to back his answer. He walked out of the room, without another word to the small animal.

The boy struggled to keep his composure when he realized he accidentally packed two lunches that day. His hands trembled as he removed all the contents from the brown paper sack, the article that he struggled with the most was: the juice box.

That day he made a long, lonely trek to school. The silence was the most painful part of it all. He chuckled a moment, remembering a time where Rukia didn't understand the concept of crossing the street, and wound up stepping in front of a moving car, to which he had to push her out of the way of.

School was strange that day too. Nobody seemed to notice the dark haired girl's absence. Finally, Ichigo said something about her to Keigo who replied, "Who's Rukia?" If anyone else where in a situation like that, they might be alarmed, however, memory replacement was not something that came as a surprise to the boy.

_I shouldn't have even bothered coming, today_, Ichigo thought to himself. He looked over to the empty desk next to him. He gasped. In the seat next to him was Rukia Kuchiki. "Rukia?!" He called out to her. The teacher looked toward him.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Kurosaki?" She inquired with a bewildered expression.

He looked back over to find that she was not, in fact, next to him. "No."

"Do you need to go to the nurse?"

"I'm fine."

After the bell rang, Ichigo sat on the steps leading to the river walk. _Even without Rukia, it seems everyone's world still continues to turn. But..._ He clenched his fist. _Mine has halted completely._ His palm began to bleed where his finger nails had been pressed. _Who the Hell is 'him'?_ His teeth ground together. He calmed down then shook his head. _I'll save you, Rukia._

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_Poor Ichigo, I bet all that was really hard on his mental health. That first part is probably my favorite moment in the whole series. Hope you enjoyed my rendition of it. More stuff to come later, I think the next will be a Byakuya X Hisana. What do you think? Happy to take suggestions and requests. Remember, review!_  
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